Piston-ring pliers.



D. J. CAMPBELL,

l PISTON RING PLIERSx APPLICATION FILED III/III. Iix I9I3.

IIrcn'fed Sept. 14, 1915.

'IUIIMSSQS I if@ 'mwdaI/MSIDQII UNITED STATES-.-

PATENT OFFICE.,-

DoNALD J. cmralusiinlt7- or iyiUskEGoN, luren refieraA PISTON-RING To all whom itmag/ concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD a citizen of the United Statesof America,

residing at Muskegon, in the county of Muskegon and State of Michiganf have in-l ventedA certain newv and useful Improvements in Piston-.Ring Pliers; and I do hereby declare-the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others 'skilled inthe art to which itappertains tomakeand use the same. l

My invention relatesto improvements in atool by which the metal ring used on pistons may be easily 'and quickly removed and to so construct this' tool that it will be simple and effectiveI in operation, substantially made and cheaply produced, and to provide the device with certain other new and useful features'hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

It is common practice to use on pistons such as are used in internal combustion engines, etc., one or more metallic packingA rings which are loosely retained by their in? herent spring tension in annular grooves provided inv the periphery ofsuch pistons, such rings being divided at one pointv1 'and -when the piston is removed from its cylinder and vthering normally expanded, such rings are of a greater diameter than the pist0n and the bore ofthe cylinder, so that when thus normally expanded they will project outsideof the,V grooves in the piston. Such rings doA not, however, normally expand suliciently to rpermit them to be removed from their-grooves except by being further expanded by separating their d ivided ends to enlarge their diameter, but

when' so expanded and held in such expanded condition they may be readily slipped ofi' from the-piston.

According to the presentpractice the re-A nioval of piston rings is a diliicult and tedious task, for that it is necessary to pry the divided ends of the ring out of the groove, and theninsert pieces of thin metal under the ends, and slide these thin pieces circumferentially around the piston and under the ring and then slip the ring ofi' the piston while it is thus held expanded by the thin pieces of metal. This operation results in a great waste of time, and the breakage of 'a 'considerable percentage of rings be- J. CAMPBELL,

' manner. n with ears 6, by means of which the leversl lSpecification of Letters Patenty Patnted Sept, 14C, 1915n Appueation'aied March 15,1913. serial No. 754,454.

YMv invention provides a tool in the forni of'pliers, thejaws of lwhich are adapted to separate as the handlefmembers are brought together and said jaws are provided with` means f or gripping the ends of the divided piston ring, and by attaching these jaws, by

means of thegripping means provided, to-

the ends of ,the said piston ring and com 4pressing the handle members, the said ring' 1s caused to spread and circumferentially expand and thus enlarge its diameter so that 1t may be easily held thus expanded. and removed from the piston.

The preferred construction and arrange- 4ment of' myv improved pliers is clearly illustrated" in the accompanying drawings, in' which:

Figure lis av perspective View of thepis v ton,v ring plier shown in operative position; F1g. 2 is a plan view of the same with a lportion broken away to show detalls of con- KYstruction; and, Fig. 3 is a vertical section von f the lin'e 3-3 of4 Fig. 2. y .I

Like .numbers refer toY like parts in all of the figures.

l and 2 represent the leversvformingthe 'pliers and these levers are pivotally connected together at a point between itheir ends, a tubular pivot bolt 3 is used for connecting the said levers. The lower Vends of the levers 1 and 2 serve as the handle mem-l bers of the tool, and the shorter ends l land y 2 form theijaws of the same.

' The jaw l, is provided with a eri-acting pair of grippingllevers 4, and 4., which are adapted to grip in aline at a right angle to the movement' ofthe jaw la, and the jaw 2a is also provided with. a like pair of gripping 4levers 5 and 5a, adapted tovoperate in like Each of said levers is provided and 4, are ful'crumed on a pivot 7- lon the jaw 1, and held in operative position thereon, and the levers 5 and 5a, are in like manner mounted and fulcrumed on thejaws 2a.

The forward ends of the clamping levers rotatablyv 4, 4a, 5 and 5a are provided on their inner" The opposite ends of said clampingy levers 4,- 4", 5 and 5a extend rearwardly. and over lap the tubular pivot bolt il at opposite sides of the pliers, the lever -l overlapsl the lever 5 on one side. andthe lever i overlaps the lever 5' at the opposite side.

Fixed on the lever 5 is annymber .i which forms a pivot joint with the, lever l. This, member-J is axially semw-threaded to receive the thumb screw lli Fixed on they lever 5a is a member 1t), which forms a pivot joint with the lever -l. The thumb screw l1. is adapted to be screwed through the niember 9 and extends through the tubular pivot bolt 3, to engage the member 10.

The operation of the device is as follows: Vhen the piston 13, is removed from its c vlinder, the piston rings 14 will expand sulii- Aciently to allow. their dii'ided ends to proposition to grip ject beyond the periphery of the piston 13. In using the piston ring pliers, the operator separates the handle members 1 and '.aud the ends of the jaws l and 2* are 'thus brought together. the pliers are then placed so that ythe gripping levers 4 and 4 will be in position to grip one of the divided ends of the piston ring between the hardened blocks S mounted thereon, and the gripping levers 5 and 5n will, in like manner, be in the other end of the divided piston ring. 'ith the pliers in this position, b v screwing the thumb screw 11, through the member 9, and into forcible engagement with the member 10, these ends of the gripping rlevers 4, 4, 5 and 5, will all simultaneously be forced apart, and through the iuleriim on the pivots 7, the opposite ends of said levers will be forcibly brought together.

thus gripping the edges of the two ends of the divided piston ring, respectively between the jaw ends of the levers t and 4,, and the jaws 5 and 5, Now by bringing the handle members 1 and 2 'of the pliers together the jaws 1n and 2 will be separated, and thus the piston ring will be sufficiently expanded and held thus expanded, so that it may be easily carried over the circumference of the piston 13. As the jaws of the pliers are separated their angular relation to the ends ot' the piston ring change, but the blocks 8 will rotate to accommodate this altered angular relation. f

What l. claim is 1. Piston ring pliers comprising a pair of levers pivoted together between their ends, the ends of the levers on one side of the pivot serving as jaw members of the pliers and the other ends thereof serving as handle members, a pair of gripping levers provided on each of the jaws and pivotally con-v nected thereto, and means for separating the rear ends of said gripping levers to cause their forward ends to grip a piston ring therebetween.

2. Piston ring pliers comprising a pair of levers pivoted together between their ends,

Vposite ends ofthe levers from the han o one. side of the pivot forming the jaws the ends of said levers on one side of the pivot toi-ming the jaws otl the pliers. while the opposite ends thereot serve as the handle members of the same. a pair of gripping levers on each jaw pivotally connected between their ends to the respective ends of the jaws, the rearwardl)v extending ends of said gripping levers overlapping the pivot of the pliers. and means for separating the rear ends oi' each respective pair oi gripping levers to cause their forward ends to grip a. piston ring. I

Ii. Piston ring*r pliers comprising a pair of levers pivoted together between their ends, the pivot bolt for such connection being tubular, the ends of the levers on one side of the pivot forming the jaws of the pliers while the opposite ends form the handle members thereof, a pair ot' gripping levers provided for each jaw of the pliers, euch` pair of levers being pivotally connected between their ends to the respective ends of the jaws and having their rearwardly extendin i ends overlapping the tubular pivot bolt nl; the pliers, the ends of one pair of levers embracing the pliers and the ends of the oppo site pair 'f levers enibracingthe first named levers, a screw thread in the end of one of the first named levers, and a thumb screw` extending therethrough, and also adapted w y engage the inner levei' at the opposite Side o the pliers.

4. Piston ring pliers comprising a pall' of levers pivotally connected between their ends. the ends of the levers on one side ofi` the pivot forming the jaws of the pliers and the opposite ends of the levers forming the handle members of the same, a pair of gripping levers provided for each jaw and pivotall v connected between their ends to the end of the same, a grippin block rotatably mounted on the inner sur are of the forward end of each gripping lever, and means for separating the rear ends of each respective pair of gripping levers.

Piston ring pliers comprising a pair 0f levers pivoted together between their ends, the ends of the levers on one side of the pivot forming the jaws of the pliers, and the 0 members thereof, the ends of said jaws b0- ing adapted to separate as the` handle members are brought together, a pair of gripping levers provided for each jaw and pivotally connected between the ends to their mi l.

speetive jaws. a gripping block rotatively mounted on ther inner surface of each gn i ping lever, and means for separating La rear ends of each respective pair of grippingv levers.

6. Piston ring pliers comprising a pair d levers pivotally connected together between their ends, the pivot bolt of said connection being tubular, andthe ends of the levers lll;

of in the pliers, and the opposite ends of the leversforming the handle members of the same, said jaws being adapted to separate as the handle members are moved toward each other, a pair of gripping levers provided for eah jaw and pivotally connected to the same, the rearwardly extending ends of each pair of said levers embracing the pivot bolt of the pliers, the said ends of one pair of gripping levers overlapping the like ends of the other pair of said evers,V a screw threaded opening in the end of one of the inner levers, a thumb screw in said opening 'extending through the tubular pivot bolt and engaging the end of the opposite inner lever, and a ripping block rotatably mounted on the orward end of each gripping lever.

1n testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DONALD J. CAMPBELL. Witnesses PALMER A. J ONES, HAROLD V AN Ax'rwnnr. 

